Ezme completes 100-mile running challenge

Story by WTIP youth volunteer Ezme Mundell 

Two Cook County running coaches April Wahlstrom and Anton Moody started a 100-mile running challenge this summer for anyone in Junior High. Anyone in Varsity has to run a whopping 200 miles over the summer! 

I am 12 years old and am heading into the 7th grade and I just finished running 100 miles over the summer! I love running! 

I started running for the Cross country run team last year as a 6th grader. I loved it! Running lets you explore while getting a wonderful workout in!

Our cross-country team is so great that they have all sorts of programs and run days set up so we can all get our miles in! I want to thank Anton Moody for doing runs every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday! Anton is such an encouraging running trainer! He keeps it fun even when running on the pavement! (Not my favorite!) I love the funny chats we have while running!

I would also like to thank our 2024 captains for showing up at 8 am in the morning to run! For me really having people to run with has a huge impact, like I said before is fun and never gets boring! 

I feel like summer flies by really quickly! When I heard about running 100 miles over the summer I wasn’t sure I could do it, I thought that it was a lot of miles! And it was! I had to plan it out so I did 3 straight weeks of 25+ miles a week! I do have to say though I couldn’t have done it without my mom! She drove me around everywhere! She also would get up at 6 a.m. in the morning to run me somewhere so I could run with a group of people! 

I am really excited to continue running this summer pushing myself farther!

Kalli Hawkins July 22, 2024